With full conviction, the President of the European Parliament said this afternoon that Ukraine should be granted candidate membership of the EU. Parliament calls on the European Commission and the Member States to work towards a candidate for membership for Ukraine. But what exactly does that mean?
Parliament’s appeal should be seen above all as an important gesture to Ukraine. Before the debate and the vote, Ukrainian President Zelensky addressed parliament from his bunker† The parliament answered his speech by voting by a very large majority in support of Ukraine a few hours later.
Long procedure
But the European Parliament is not currently involved in any Ukrainian accession process. President Zelensky took the country’s first step into war by sending an official application for EU membership to Brussels yesterday.
It is now up to the 27 EU countries to decide whether Ukraine can become a member. That must be a unanimous decision. And while a number of countries hope that a decision will be made soon, it will most likely take some time. In the coming period, a roadmap must first be drawn up with changes that Ukraine must implement in order to become a member of the EU. Only then do the EU Member States take a decision.
More countries in waiting room
If Ukraine is then an official candidate for EU membership, it will be years before the country actually joins. Countries such as North Macedonia and Serbia have had this status for years, but it does not look like they will become members of the EU in the short term. Turkey has been waiting the longest for EU membership. The country became an official candidate for membership in 1999, but more than 20 years later it is still no closer to accession.
A candidate member must meet a number of very important conditions before it can really join the EU. For example, the rule of law must be in order and the economy must grow stably. Due to the war with Russia, it does not appear that Ukraine will be able to meet these conditions in any way anytime soon.
What do the EU countries say?
Eight countries, including Poland and the Baltic States, want Ukraine to be allowed to follow an accelerated procedure for EU accession. However, it is virtually impossible for this to happen. France and Germany have already indicated that they are not immediately in favor of this. The Netherlands also does not want such a special route. According to Prime Minister Rutte, a discussion about membership is not desirable at the moment because it does not help ‘in settling this conflict’.
The EU will want to make a gesture. It is expected that this will not be long in coming. The situation in Ukraine changes hourly. As long as President Zelensky is in control, the EU will do everything possible to support him.
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